April saw the deadly attacks on Kabul from within the city. These attacks
were significant as it showed not only the vulnerability of the city but also
the ability of the reinvigorated Taliban to strike where they please.
While the attacks may not have caused an enormous amount of
physical damage, the attacks were a spectacular PR victory for the Taliban. The
PR success was then made all the greater by President Karzai declaring it a
failure on the part of NATO intelligence, once more showing Karzai to be
playing at political point scoring.
It is true that this was a failure on the part of NATO to
prevent these attacks, however it must be remembered that Afghan forces should
also be able to detect and stop such attacks occurring as it is not long until
the NATO forces that Karzai likes to criticize so much withdraw from the
country.
While people may like to make comparisons with the American
involvement in Vietnam ,
the Taleban are unlikely to achieve a military victory over the coalition forces.
Once the coalition forces have withdrawn from the country and there are only
“advisors” left then it might be a different matter. This is where American
involvement may become a little closer to the Vietnam comparison and the Taliban
will no doubt be prepared to bleed American and Afghan forces until the final
American forces depart from the country. If the Taliban are then able to take
on and defeat Afghan government forces then it will add a further perceived
“cut and run” laurel to the American reputation.
That is not to say that it is inevitable that the Taliban
will emerge as the victors. There are many factors that could prevent that
including some of the powerful tribal forces of various warlods switching sides
once the foreign forces have left.
It will be interesting over the coming weeks to see if there
are further “spectacular” attacks carried out and claimed by the Taliban. It
will also be interesting to see the long term implications on the drawdown of
forces and the timetable for the exit.
Photo source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2012/apr/15/kabul-attacks-live-updates
Photo source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2012/apr/15/kabul-attacks-live-updates
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